Workshop at Madrona MindBody Institute in Port Townsend. Click here to register on Madrona Website

In recent years, the interplay between the body and mind has received a growing amount of attention in relation to our understanding of human emotional experiences, how we address mental health, and how we understand the mind itself. A primary example is the emerging field of embodied cognition - the theory that cognition is formed through the interaction of the brain with the sensory and motor systems of the body - which is finding roots in neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, and performing arts.

Madeline integrates breath and voice practices to investigate emotions and cognition in a way that includes the body. She focuses on the anatomy and physiology of the breath musculature - defined here as muscles of the torso, neck, and head - and teaches students to explore movements and sensations of the breath muscles, then conceptually relate them to emotion and mental states as they are perceived in the body.

This awareness training serves as a tool to embody the concepts. One implication of this work is that the health (agility, stress, and coordination) of the breath musculature reflects and influences emotion and mental states, an awareness which provides the opportunity for integrating body-work, including techniques of music training and the performing arts, into models for health and healing. These tools can also help us learn to understand processes of cognition through studies drawing from embodied practices.